About the job

Job summary

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) works hard to ensure that the food that reaches consumers around the UK is safe, that it is what it says it is, and that it is increasingly healthy and more sustainable. The Chemical Contaminants and Residues team is particularly focused on ensuring that all food produced and sold in Britain is safe to eat. 

Contaminants that negatively impact the quality and safety of our food can come from all sorts of places, from pesticides that farmers use to protect their crops to the medicines that keep livestock healthy. 

We are looking for a Food Policy Adviser who can help develop policy and provide evidence-supported advice on contaminants in food. You will work across a range of areas to support the team’s efforts to keep food safe but will also take on a specific area of focus, allowing you to become an expert in your field so that we might be better informed in our response to threats in these areas. 

Job description

You will develop expertise on environmental and industrial contaminants, which can be caused by a wide range of sources, from pollution and factory waste to incidents such as oil spills. 

 

This role offers an opportunity to examine the danger posed to our food; the understanding you develop of your field will allow us to develop better policies and responses to the threats they present. As a Food Policy Adviser, you’ll help us identify solutions, working in collaboration with colleagues across the FSA and external government and industry stakeholders to ensure that food is safe for consumers across the country. 

 

If you are a strong communicator who can present complex scientific ideas to stakeholders in a way that is easily understood, you’ll have the opportunity here to make a real difference to the food the nation eats. 

 

This post is advertised as a Fixed Term/Loan appointment until 14 October 2024 with a possibility of an extension.  Candidates that are already established Civil Servants or from non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) will come to the FSA on a Loan basis and will need to request permission from their Home Department for the Loan prior to applying for this job. 

Note for FSA employees:

You must seek approval from your substantive manager before applying for any non-permanent vacancy, this includes applying for a new post during an existing temporary posting.  Please note that if applying for a temporary post within the FSA or elsewhere on promotion, successful appointment will not automatically result in a permanent promotion - you will revert to your current substantive grade at the end of the Fixed Term or Loan period (unless funding has been approved to make the post permanent).

Person specification

Please read the attached Candidate Pack to discover further details about the role, our organisation, who we are looking for and the criteria we will assess against during the selection process.

We look forward to receiving your application and wish you every success.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £32,505, Food Standards Agency contributes £8,809 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

Full details of the selection process are detailed in the attached candidate pack. 

Application and shortlisting

You will be asked to provide personal details (not seen by the Panel) and to confirm your eligibility to apply for the role.

You will then be asked to complete an application which will be used to assess you against the following essential criteria.

Experience

1. Lead criteria: A demonstrable ability to communicate and advocate evidence-based policy to non-technical and non-scientific stakeholders at all levels including the most senior, showing good decision-making This includes the ability to write clear and informative documents for different audiences, for example, briefings for senior officials and correspondence with external stakeholders.
   
   
2. Strong influencing and effective personal engagement skills, particularly the ability to quickly establish and maintain productive relations with a range of stakeholders inside and outside of government.
   
   
3. Strong analytical skills, weighing up diverse sources of information to underpin policy development and make clear recommendations to senior officials
   
   
4. Ability to adapt quickly and effectively to a fast-changing environment and show high levels of resilience. This includes the ability to confidently manage different workstreams at once while maintaining a high quality of work.   
   
   Technical
   
   
5. Scientific Degree or equivalent scientific experience.

Lead Criteria

An initial sift may take place on just the identified Lead Criteria indicated.

In the event that we receive a large number of applications, the minimum pass mark for the Lead Criteria may be raised at shortlisting stage. Candidates who apply under the DCS, GPTW or RIS schemes and meet the minimum requirements will be unaffected by the pass mark raise.

Interview

If successful at shortlisting stage, you will be invited to a final interview in which we will assess you against the following Civil Service Behaviours Level 3

Behaviours

1. Communicating and Influencing
2. Making Effective Decisions
3. Working Together
4. Seeing the Big Picture

Expected Timeline

Advert closes: 07 January 2024

Sift: Expected to take place week commencing 08 January 2024

Final panel interview: Expected to take place either week commencing 22 or 29 January 2024

Interviews will be held remotely via MS Teams. (If you do not have the Microsoft Teams application installed on your computer, you can join on the web without installing the application).

Please note that indicated dates may be subject to change.

The FSA is dedicated to a policy of equal opportunity for all.

Being truly reflective of our society and building a culture where everyone can perform at their best is critical to the work of the FSA. We are looking to recruit from the widest possible talent pool and encourage candidates to apply from a diverse range of backgrounds. We are proud to be an inclusive, equal opportunities employer and are committed to ensuring that all candidates are treated fairly throughout the recruitment and selection process and beyond. All appointments are made on merit.

Please be assured that diversity or socio–economic information requested during the course of your application plays absolutely no part in our selection processes and is not seen by anyone assessing applications.  Any information provided is anonymised and used for statistical purposes only.

We actively review the deployment of talent on a periodic basis in the interests of optimising personal development and the achievement of business plans.

Childcare Vouchers

Any move to the Food Standards Agency from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare.

Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

Reserve List

A reserve list will be held for a period of up to 12 months from which further appointment may be made.

Candidates that do not pass the interview, but have demonstrated an acceptable standard may be considered for similar roles at a lower grade.

Visa Sponsorship

Please note that the FSA does not hold a licence to sponsor any visa applications and we are unable to provide any advice about visas.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.